News Channel 8 Photo by MICHAEL EGGER
It looks and sounds more like a pep rally than the tee-off to a Republican presidential debate at Florida Atlantic University’s Boca Raton campus.
The FAU marching band is playing old-time favorites behind MSNBC’s makeshift Hardball with Chris Mathews’ set. As Mathews interviews Florida Gov. Charlie Crist about the state’s role in presidential politics, the band breaks into action. Students cheering for their favorite candidates punctuate the lively scene.
Although the mood outside the debate hall is light and lively, campus security is tight. Boca Raton police are patrolling with canine units, and each entrance to the debate hall is outfitted with metal detectors.
Students are actively involved in playing host to the debate. Every time we walk through another door, a student is holding it open for us with a smile. One of the volunteers here tells me so many kids wanted to help out with the debate, there was actually a waiting list for volunteers.
The state is so divided about picking a front-runner in Tuesday’s Republican primary, even Gov. Charlie Crist hasn’t made up his mind.
The governor told me tonight he’s still undecided about who is getting his much-courted support. And if he’s leaning one way or another, he isn’t showing his hand.
Crist admitted the campaigns are wooing him pretty intensely and says he may not know who will get his vote until Tuesday morning. Crist says Republicans are lucky there are so many viable candidates in the hunt.
Students helped set up for Thursday’s Republican debate at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton. They took their seats on the debate stage Thursday, helping crews set lighting for the debate that will air on MSNBC and NBC affiliates.
The candidates will be trying to resonate in the country’s fourth largest state, where registered voters will hold their presidential preference primary Tuesday.
The most recent Mason-Dixon poll shows Arizona Sen. John McCain with 26 percent of the vote, slightly behind former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney at 30 percent. Romney’s stronghold in the state is the Tampa Bay area, according to the poll. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani trails McCain by 8 percentage points, with 18 percent of the vote. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is at 13 percent.
According to the poll, the economy, terrorism and immigration rank as the most important issues to registered Republicans in Florida. The candidates will be working hard to connect with voters on those issues tonight.
As opinion polls continue to reveal Americans fear another terror strike, it becomes clear why Rudy Giuliani is maintaining front-runner status for the Republican nomination in 2008. And his campaign clearly seeks to capitalize on his image as a leader in a time of crisis.
“Giuliani has the reputation of when the wost catastrpophe in the world hits the United States, that he can manage it,” said Dr. Susan MacManus, Newschannel 8 political analyst and USF political science professor.
And you can expect the former New York City mayor’s campaign to run on that image from now until the general election.
“As long as you have that nagging fear of another terror attack, then Giuliani’s going to grabe people’s atteniton as a possible presidential choice,” MacManus said.
Advertisement
